Directorate general of health services

In the U.S., state governments have largely carried the burden of responsibility for finding and allocating medical resources and determining mitigation policies. This has led to a patchwork response to COVID-19, with governors taking varying approaches to the outbreak. Alabama governor Kay Ivey, for example, didn’t call for residents to shelter-in-place until April 4 and allowed businesses to begin reopening on April 30 with some social distancing rules. New York, by contrast, established its stay-at-home order on March 22. It has begun reopening business in phases but has extended its stay-at-home order until June 13. Donovan says the success of these diverging tactics—New York’s more cautious rules versus Alabama’s aggressive push to reopen— will be judged along political party lines. … [Read more...] about As health misinformation and politics collide, social networks face a choice

Israel, on the other hand, is gearing up for large scale serology tests in order to gauge the proportion of population which has developed antibodies against the novel coronavirus. Israel, whose aggressive response to the coronavirus has held its fatality rate to a fraction of those of the United States and other hard-hit nations, is readying a nationwide serological test of 100,000 citizens. Moshe Bar-Siman-Tov, director-general of Israel’s Health Ministry, said that if antibody tests show a sizable portion of the population has developed antibodies, that could mean Israel is on its way to “herd immunity” and would be well equipped to withstand further outbreaks. Meanwhile, studies have estimated the percentage of Israelis with antibodies range widely, from less than 1% to upward of 10%. … [Read more...] about In-Depth: Is Herd Immunity our best bet in the fight against coronavirus?